


Rise of the Guardians - Dark Menace

by Aqua111



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic)
Genre: Background Relationships, F/M, Implied Relationships, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 02:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15921054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aqua111/pseuds/Aqua111
Summary: Locke wakes up in a half destroyed city with no memories of what happened the past year, a note that he put himself in that condition to prevent further danger, the other Guardians have disappeared, a civil war is up ahead. Soon he finds himself trying to retrace his memory, find out about the others fate and stop the civil war before it can turn into something bigger.A continuation of my other story Rise of the Guardians.





	1. City in ruins

Locke's eyes snapped open. For just two seconds he remained lying still, breathing fast and unsteadily then he wanted to sit up quickly but a sharp pain in his stomach caused him to drop back again. Clutching his belly he spun his head around. He was in a dim lit empty room. Dust and pebbles covered the floor; the walls and ceiling were rutted with large cracks and holes. But it wasn't the surrounding that looked like it could crash down on him any second or the fact he neither knew where he was nor how he got there that made him to feel so mortally terrified. It was a nameless, faceless terror that held his heart in a freezing cold grip but it didn't trigger his memories and whatever had caused his feelings had been wiped out of his mind completely.

Staring at the ceiling the young Guardian tried to catch his breath again and calm down his nerves. He hadn't found any wounds so the already fading pain could just have been caused by his sudden movement. Or was there something in his body - something that wasn't just responsible for the pain but also for the memory loss? But how much had he actually lost? Locke closed his eyes and tried to remember. His mind was flooded with memories of his childhood he wished he had forgotten, the year since he had become a Guardian, the fights against the Legions and Enerjak, the days he spent with Lara, the rebuilding of Haven. The last he remembered was Sabre talking to him about his concern over their rapidly growing strength but after that - only blackness.

He turned his head to the side when suddenly a piece of paper and a small empty syringe vial caught his eyes. They were covered by dust a bit and before he had spun his head too rapidly and mainly focused on the room in general so he had completely overlooked them. Carefully he set up, reached out a hand and grabbed both items. Wet dust covered the inside of the vial so it couldn't have been empty for too long, maybe it had been there for just a few hours. Then he unfolded the piece of paper. The words on it looked messily as if the writer had been shaking - with fear? - but it was clearly his own handwriting. Locke breathed in sharply when he saw today's date being mentioned in the first sentence. According to this if he had written it down correctly he hadn't been Guardian for one but already for two years. That meant a whole year had been erased from his memories. Quickly his eyes wandered over the rest of the note he had written to himself.

"Reading this means my experiment has been successful and the essence of the Master Emerald had only been strong enough to start killing the 'thing' inside of me but not myself. I'm aware the antidote will cause amnesia but the level of it depends on how much of the thing I had been able to kill. Hopefully I got all of it even though that means I would lose all my memory back to the day the infestation started. No matter how much of my memory has been erased, it will recover eventually but no matter how much I want to I should try not to remember too fast since it will cause surviving forces in me to grow again."

Slowly Locke put the letter down and shook his head unbelievingly. What in Aurora's name had he carried - or still carried - inside of him that led to such a dangerous experiment at this strange place probably far away from Haven? And what had he experienced before, that caused him to wake up still feeling the terror of it? Well, if he remained on this dirty floor he would never find out.

The young Guardian stood up but a second later he was down on his knees again, arms clutched around his stomach, the pain giving him dry heaves. Blurry pictures flashed in front of his eyes.

_A flash of light, the ground was shaking, buildings were crumbling. Two figures made of blinding green light stood in the ruins of the white city. For them it was too late already. Their infestation was complete._

Heavily breathing Locke snapped out of his visions. He remembered these scenes. It was merely a few days ago that he had been in Albion, trying to protect it from – whatever. A part of the city had been destroyed that day. The other Brotherhood members he couldn't recall to be anywhere but why? They never would have left one of their kind all alone in a situation like this.

A sudden shiver went through the ground and forcefully ripped him out of his thoughts. It was only short but Locke's senses were alarmed and his instincts screamed at him to get out of this building, fast.

And then the sirens started howling. In Echidnaopolis each kind of alarm had a different siren sound – one that called the EST and the ambulance to a bigger accident sounded different than a fire alarm. This certain kind of siren was known to most Echidnas thanks to documentations but it hadn't been heard anymore since the last Great War – air raid alert.

Within a second the Guardian was on his feet and dashed out of the room. His mind and instincts still implored him to go for one of the old and still intact underground bunkers – with his knowledge not only of the Guardians' but also the city's history he knew quite well where they were located – but as a member of the Brotherhood he had to protect his people first and think about his own safety last, come what may.

Another shiver went through the long abandoned building when he ran through a damaged and pebble-covered stair case and made him stumble against a wall but he quickly pushed off and found balance again. If the quakes became stronger the whole building would collapse on him. Why he had chosen such a place for an experiment on him he could only guess but he assumed he had done it in case something went wrong – if the "thing" had survived the whole dose of Chaos essence then at least the host's body would have been eliminated within the next few minutes and before the parasite could grow to its full size.

Locke had barely entered the street when something hit the building. The quickly activated shield was too weak to even resist the shockwave; he was slammed down and buried by debris. Pain and the growing pressure on his back made it hard to breathe but the Guardian forced himself to lie calm and suppressed his panic. One wrong movement now and some of the rocks could slide down and crack his spine - a damage not even his rapid healing ability could take care of. He tasted blood, also could feel it dripping down the corner of his mouth and imploringly hoped internal injuries healed with the same speed too.

It wasn't before the last rumbling stopped that he carefully activated the next chaos shield, close around his body and weak at first then it strengthened and spread larger, shoving boulders out of the way. Locke needed to breathe in deeply a few times before he managed to get up and have a look around. Most of the building behind him was still standing, nothing else in the same street was damaged; the attackers of the air were nowhere to be seen or heard - for now. The Guardian climbed over the wreckage and as fast as he could he made his way deeper into the city where he knew the nearest bunker was located. He had to make sure his people were alright.

A few Echidnas had left the underground shelters already and made their hasty preparations to leave the city. For an enemy who wasn't just out for destruction but also for kills they would be easy targets in the open fields but they didn't seem to care about that at all.

Locke grabbed a rushing by female's arm.

"What has happened here? Who is attacking the city?"

For a few seconds she stared at him with panic in her eyes then with all her strength she pushed him away.

"Stay away from me, you killer! You monster!" she screamed turned tail and darted off.

The young Guardian stared after her in bewilderment and shock. In the distance he heard her cry, "The Guardians are back! Run for your lives!"

In a reflex he placed his hand on his left side where he remembered to have set the injection. What kind of monster had he been shelter for? Then it also dawned on him that she had spoken of "Guardians" - more than one. Suddenly he felt sick and his legs threatened to give in. Haven - he had to get back immediately.

The sirens howled again and this time he could see the approaching jets though he didn't want to believe his eyes. These weren't the grey jets of Haven. They were completely white with the emblem of Albion.

Locke ran to the middle of an open place, waved his arms, tried to catch their attention.

"What in Edmund's name are you doing?" he screamed. "This is Echidnaopolis you are attacking!"

As an answer a beam was shot at him. He leaped out of the way and the attack hit the ground, leaving a smoking hole in the asphalt. A pained expression on his face Locke raised his arms, hands glowing with Chaos energy. He couldn't shield a whole city so if he couldn't reason with them he had to try and stop them with a counter attack. The first few hits ripped some of the jets open, made the pilots lose control over their machines and sent them spiralling downwards, the next blows forcefully pushed them away from the city so they would crash somewhere outside. The remaining jets veered and returned to where they had come from.

Locke sank down and stared at the ground so he didn't have to look at the destruction or the pillar of smoke coming from outside of the city. A killer... The female was right, he had killed in the past, he had done it again now but both times he only did when he had no other choice - as far as he remembered. During the year that had been erased from his memory however... Quickly he shook off these thoughts, didn't want to let them through to him now. He had to get back to Haven and find the other Guardians.


	2. Tears of Haven

Face first Locke landed in the grass. When he shared energy with another Guardian during teleportation he only felt a bit exhausted, when he was with Spectre it was a piece of cake but all alone he was completely drained. For the moment he needed to recover he remained lying on the ground and watched the wind rustle the grass - within the two years since Enerjak's death the once barren wasteland of the Forbidden Zone had completely recovered and not just grass but also small trees and bushes were growing there - but not even this peaceful picture could distract him from the nagging fear of something he couldn't remember.

The neon lights lit up when Locke entered the Guardians' underground lair. Aside of Haven's usual whisper that probably only he had ever been able to hear everything was completely silent - even the whispers were quieter and sounded further away than normally. Quickly he checked the most frequented rooms - going to the other rooms wasn't necessary since if anyone else was here too they should have noticed Locke by now and make him know they were there - before entering the main surveillance room. The screens all around him were activated as usual, showed Echidnaopolis and other parts of the island. No signs of a new attack but unfortunately also no sign of the other Guardians.

A sharp sudden pain in his abdomen made him gasp and with arms tightly wrapped around his lower body he sank to his knees.

_"I'm so sick of this", Thunderhawk stated scarcely when he entered the room. Spectre and Locke turned around, looking at him wonderingly._

_"Guardians..."He spit out that word like a bitter taste. "Guess that's the synonym for 'slaves of dud people'. They have the knowledge and technology to defend themselves from whatever threatens them and rebuild a complete city but, admit it, without us they would be completely helpless anyways. What else have we done during the past month but watching over them like over babies, helping them with their pathetic little problems, even helped them rebuilding their city and what for?"_

_The two other males exchanged a lightly worried gaze. Lately Thunderhawk hadn't been in the best mood and often neglected his duties but they never heard him speaking with such hate._

_"There are dangers they simply can't come by on their own, for example when they have Enerjak's power or the strength of numbers", Locke carefully said. "And yes, they could have rebuilt Echidnaopolis on their own but it also is our home even though we mostly live in Haven now and we all agreed to help them, even you, remember?"_

_Thunderhawk only snorted. "Back then I still didn't know it better. Besides, when had this ever been a real home to me? People treated me with disrespect only since I can remember."_

_"But just a few of them. You can't make all people responsible for what happened in your past", Spectre said with a frown. "Moreover these times are gone. You are a Guardian. The people respect and love you as their protector."_

_"Oh yes, they really love us. A pat on the head and a 'good boy' for the glorious protectors." The lavender male chuckled dryly. "We are the most powerful beings on this island, maybe even the whole planet. This scum should cower in the dust before us. They should fear us. THEY should be OUR slaves. But instead we waste all these powers for playing the goody-two-shoes and ripping our asses open for them." A feverish glow appeared in his eyes._

_Spectre had stood up and made a step towards him but still held himself back._

_"What the hell is wrong with you? You are insane."_

_"No, unlike you I'm realistic. Just imagine what would happen if I refused to continue wiping their tiny little bitch asses. Suddenly I would only be the burden for the society I had been before. So much for love and respect. For an outcast these two words are non-existent."_

_"For your information, there had been enough things people asked me which I declined and they still respect me though I once had been an outcast too" Spectre growled._

_"Because you never made a secret of your full powers. The people already started fearing you although they are still less frightened as they should because you are still too weak-willed to also use these powers against them. Besides, when have you ever been an outcast? You had a whole army to cover your back. The Dark Legion was your family."_

_"Everyone I ever called my family was DEAD long before I even knew the Guardians!"_

_The two males approached each other rapidly but Locke jumped up and got between them. As much as he was shocked by Thunderhawk's harsh words or the fact that two Guardians nearly had started a fight against each other in the middle of Haven - it worried him even more to see how fast Thunderhawk was about to rush into a fight with one of his friends. Had he been in a bad mood under normal circumstances he only would have quickly avoided Spectre's attack and continued with his cynical taunts. But right now even the hot-tempered Spectre only shot glares while Thunderhawk's body had started glowing like he was getting ready for a massive attack and looked as if he would also blast Locke away if necessary._

_"Please", Locke said as calm as possible. "We don't want a fight within the walls of Haven or any fights between Guardians at all to begin with. We have been chosen to fight as one and not separated against each other and this bond we share shall not be destroyed just because some of us are in a pissed mood."_

_For a few seconds the two males continued glaring at each other then Thunderhawk turned around and stomped out of the room, his body still glowing._

This time even while the memories were rushing through his mind Locke had managed to stand up and stumble towards one of the nearest bathrooms. The last thing he wanted was to vomit on the floor of the surveillance room. He barely made it to the toilet when the retch started and all he coughed up was blood. For a few seconds he only stared at the crimson trail. What had he done to himself? Or better yet, what had that thing done to him that had made such grave measures necessary? Then the next flood of memories came over him.

_"To me it sounded logical what he said, even if he said it with so much anger" Sojourner told the group of Locke, Spectre and Sabre. Thunderhawk was not in the room and all they knew was that he also wasn't anywhere in Haven anymore. He had disappeared the same day he had nearly started a fight with Spectre._

_"It also doesn't matter to me what you think about it but I can't leave him all on his own. Not in his condition and not after all we have been through together."_

_"Excuse me", Locke suddenly mumbled and rushed out of the room, a hand pressed against his abdomen. He could feel the worried gazes in his back and knew it was only a matter of time until they would start asking but not even he knew what was wrong with him._

_Locked inside the bathroom he cowered on the floor, arms tightly wrapped around him. With each wave of pain his body was glowing and he bit his lips so he wouldn't cry out._

_When the fit was over he was lying at the side, heavily breathing. Sabre's worries he had told him a while ago came back to his mind, "I know we are gaining experience every day but lately I have the feeling our powers are growing way too fast. Sometimes I have more energy in me than I can handle." Was it this energy overflow that had caused Thunderhawk to slowly go insane and now also tried to break out of him?_

_"Tell me, what is wrong with me, my old friend?" he silently asked but not even the whispering voices of Haven had an answer._

When Locke regained consciousness he found himself in the same position as he had left off his memories. His whole body was shaking. It all had started with waves of pain and sickness - the same he had right now. Besides his memory was returning way too fast. This couldn't be a side effect from the injection anymore. The thing inside of him never had been dead - he only had weakened it and now it was pushing itself through again. He would have wanted to scream but again he forced himself to stay calm. He didn't know what it was yet and even after he found out there was still enough time left to think of another way to get rid of it or find the missing Guardians or at least keep Albion from attacking again.

Slowly he walked back to the surveillance room with less hope to see anything new but with the plan to contact Davis from the EST who had become their spokesperson for Guardian matters. He might have erased his own memories but not Davis' so if any of the Guardians had told him what they had done or gone to he would still remember.

"I need to speak to Commander Davis", Locke said when the face of a complete stranger appeared on the screen but the stranger's face expression only darkened at his sight.

"Guardian..." he said with a slightly threatening undertone.

"Listen, I don't know why everyone suddenly decided to hate on me and also don't have time to deal with it", Locke gave his testy reply. "I just need to talk to Davis."

"So you really want to tell us you don't know anymore what you have done, huh? Then I'd suggest you stay hidden in your little underground basement and think about it but try to make it not too long because I still need to get you and your fellowship and kick your sorry asses - and don't expect you survive it after what you've done."

"Then tell me what in Edmund's name I have done!" Locke yelled at the screen but was ignored.

"Davis and most of the EST have fled just like most of the other Guardian lovers who were foolish enough to stay loyal to you no matter what happened but the few we got were useless to us. Since they fled south the rest hopefully was killed by the desert. I, Commander Tyler, am now in charge here."

With that he disconnected and left Locke alone with his anger and nagging fear.

"In charge here" - the way he had said these words it had sounded as if he believed not only to have taken over the EST but also the whole city. What had he done to those who weren't able to leave the city fast enough? For a moment he was relieved that Lara was still living with one of the desert tribes and never had moved to Echidnaopolis so she was still save for a while but then he was really worried about the other Echidnas who kept their loyalty - the free and the captured ones. And what were all these things - awful enough to want him dead - he had done everyone hated him for but no one told him? He knew he shouldn't try to remember that fast again but this time he couldn't help but wreck his brain. Nothing, now that he finally wanted for them to return his memories about these parts stayed blank.

Therefor now that he had closed his eyes and wasn't distracted by visions or anything else he could hear the whispers of Haven again. They still were very quiet and he couldn't tell what they said - not that he ever had really fully understood them but they at least triggered memories or feelings that made him more or less understand what they were trying to say - or if the ancient Guardians even spoke to him or only with each other but their tones had definitely changed since he could remember them from his last visit. This time they also didn't sound like they were in his head but rather somewhere deeper inside of Haven. With a last look back at the screens - still nothing new - he decided to follow the whispers. He had no idea what to do now or where to start and while he was thinking he could also walk through Haven.

A narrow door opened up to his side when he walked through the corridors and showed a small corridor that he was sure never to have entered before though he had been practically living in Haven for two years now - not to speak of the knowledge of this place he had been gifted with by his ancient Guardian namesake long before he had set foot in Haven for the first time. But on the other hand it was said this place held secrets not even the Guardians who had lived in there for decades were able to uncover. When closed the door perfectly blended in with the wall and was impossible to be spotted but now Haven had decided to reveal one of his secrets - probably its biggest one. For a moment Locke even forgot to breathe.

When he entered the room at the end of the corridor he found himself on a metal balustrade under the ceiling of a room at least four floors deep - deeper than the rest of Haven. The walls, floor and ceiling were made of something that could either have been black marble or smooth black metal so the room appeared to be dark though there were the same neon lights as in the rest of Haven. And in the middle of the room there was a huge black pillar made of the same material with moving lights all over it that gave it a look of a starlit night sky mixed with working computers. The "heart" of Haven - the thing that had kept it alive for the past millennia and was the home for the past Guardians' spirits.

When Locke climbed down the stairs to the bottom he could also finally tell what exactly had changed about the tone of their whispers now that they became a bit louder again. Among them there was a silent metallic sound like the long creaks of a sinking ship heard from far away. If a machine could cry it would probably sound similar. These were the tears of Haven.

Locke felt like crying as well. He had come here in hope to find answers or at least a hint what to do but instead only found out that Haven too was despaired of the missing Guardians, the destruction or whatever else was going on. Carefully he placed a hand on the cold dark material. Some of the little lights immediately wandered closer and started blinking as an outline of his hand.

"My old friend, I wished I could help you but I don't know what to do."

When he dragged his hand away the lights were still glowing around it and opened a virtual screen in front of him. At first he blinked in surprise. Virtual screens, maybe a completely virtual hardware that could be accessed from anywhere within Haven and not just in one certain room - it had been one of his dreams since they started rebuilding the complex but he never had been able to realize it because of the lack of materials and technical possibilities and now he had it right in front of him. Again he just had to wonder what highly advanced technology the ancient Echidnas had and how they could simply accept the huge step backwards during Edmund's time.

With a wave of his hand he navigated through what obviously was another surveillance screen but with a much bigger radius than the other screens of Haven. One picture showed the canyons north of Albion but thanks to a sandstorm in there he couldn't see too much, then there was the edge of Angel Island, one of the entrances to the Chaos Chamber, the edge of the desert - part of the route they had taken when Spectre once had led them to the Legion camp - seen from high above with one of the desert nomad tribes wandering through it, Echidnaopolis with Tyler standing on some ruins talking loudly to the people - at least his gestures made it look as if he was talking loudly but the screen had no sound.

"Why are you showing me this? Has something happened on these places - or will something happen? I don't know what..."

He stopped and returned to one of the previous pictures. The nomad tribe was still there but although Locke couldn't zoom any closer to see details he was sure they didn't look like any of the other tribes. Rather like people from completely different parts of the island - forced to flee from their homes but lucky enough to find people who shared the same fate so they didn't have to fight through the wilderness all alone. Locke's heart started racing.

"Thank you, old friend", he whispered when he rushed back to the stairs.


	3. Deadlocked island

Locke followed the narrow rocky path between the cliffs. Repeatedly he turned around and tried to make out possible followers in the slowly approaching darkness of the late evening. Not that he had been worried about an attack - he knew how to defend himself quite well as long as he didn't have to stand his ground against a whole army - but he was afraid someone could have followed to find the current location of the fugitives.

A small trail of blood crossed his way and led a bit higher uphill. With a queasy feeling he followed it with his eyes but let out his breath in relief when he detected the carcass of a smaller rockland creature. Just some escaped or leftover prey.

"Don't even think about moving", a female voice called behind him and he heard the clicking of a released safety catch. Locke didn't dare to turn around but there was something very familiar about this voice.

"Kali? Is that you?"

"Who wants to know that?" She tried to sound cool but he could hear a hint of fear in her voice.

"It's me, Locke."

He heard a silent gasp, seconds later the sound of a secured gun - only then he found it safe enough to turn around. At first Kali stared at him as if she had seen a ghost then she closed the gap between them with a few steps and pulled him into embrace, careful and lightly enough so she wouldn't squeeze the bundle she carried in front of her chest.

"Oh dear Aurora, I wouldn't have recognized your voice anymore. It has changed again so much since I saw you the last time", she whispered.

No wonder it had changed, he also wasn't a fifteen year old boy anymore.

"Where have you been all this time? Where is Spectre? Is he alright?" She moved away a bit so she could look him in the eyes but he could only shake his head despondently.

"All things that had happened within the last year have been erased from my memory thanks to ... an experiment. My knowledge about the other Guardians' whereabouts is as good as yours."

A sudden movement in her bundle distracted him and although it was already too dark to make out details he knew what she was carrying. A little part of his memory returned but this time he felt neither pain nor sickness - it was a warm happier memory that had nothing to do with the creature inside of him. He could remember Spectre's proudness when he had told them Kali was expecting their first child, had seen her a few times with her baby belly but also was sure that no one of the Guardians had gotten the chance to see the little puggle.

Kali interpreted his silence correctly.

"She is called Voni like Spectre's mother. That was his only wish for a name, no preferences in case it would have been a son." She sighed and bleakly continued, "I wished my little baby girl didn't have to start her life like this - her father and the rest of the Guardians disappeared without a trace months ago, her mother a refugee, the cities in ruins. Well, it is as it is and I can't change it."

"But maybe we Guardians can", Locke stated and tried to sound more boldly than he actually felt. "After I have found the others I mean."

He started looking around again. The darkness made him nervous though he feared only for Kali's and the child's safety and not his own.

"Do you have a safe place to stay?"

"Yes, our refugee camp down the road."

"If I understood Tyler correctly there must be a few of you so why did they send a mother with a baby to hunt for food. Or if they didn't have another choice why didn't you leave her in the safety of the camp?"

"Safety?" She chuckled dryly. "In our camp there might not even be as many Echidnas as in an average nomad tribe so it's already hard to defend the camp under normal circumstances. Out in the wilderness with me alone my daughter is in as much danger as in the camp. And yes, I don't have any other choice. Just very few of us are able to move far enough to find food - of course Tyler and his crew didn't let anyone escape unharmed and some are still wounded. It could have been even worse if Lara hadn't joined our group since none of us has ever lived in the wilderness of the desert."

"Lara is with you?" Locke asked and his heart was racing.

"Yes, and I also wanted to ask you to come with me. She will be bubbling over with joy to see you again."

"What has happened during the last year?" Locke asked when they wandered down the path, the prey with them, a hand full of Chaos energy lighting their way.

"You really can't remember a thing?"

"No, I had some flashbacks in the past few hours. Figures made of light, Thunderhawk ranting about something and ... pain. But I'm not sure what exactly has happened or what triggered all of this."

"Yes, these figures that looked like they were purely made of Chaos Energy appeared several months ago. They caused destructions in the city and soon also started attacking Albion in Echidnaopolis' name. Meanwhile Albion countered the attacks but not against the energy figures but the city itself. The last attack on Echidnaopolis was a double attack not even a whole day ago - as far as our informant could tell us the energy creatures destroyed a part of the city and only a few hours later the jets from Albion arrived. The people blame everything that happened on the Guardians simply because they are the most well-known Chaos triggers, people who still keep their loyalty to the Guardians are targets of all the hate as well."

"So that's what Tyler wanted to tell me..."

"Tyler? According to Davis he's a rookie who joined the EST mere weeks before the first attacks but soon thanks to his knowledge of how to hold big speeches became more and more powerful and influential. He fuelled the people's fear until it turned into panic and hate."

Locke only silently shook his head. He couldn't explain the reason behind all this. Why would a member of the EST, an inhabitant of Echidnaopolis do something like that? Was he only a power hungry loud mouth who had seen his chance in the latest events? Or maybe his actions had something to do with the energy creatures and the beginning war...

"I only wished the island would move again", Kali said. "Maybe if we got out of their reach..."

"Wait, the island isn't moving anymore?" Locke interrupted.

"Not since a few months. It's like the Master Emerald has suddenly run out of energy - still enough to keep the island afloat but too less to make it move. Maybe we - I mean the refugees - would have contacted the Guardians but at that time all of you already had disappeared mysteriously"

Locke stared at the little energy flame in his hand. Indeed he had felt weaker than usually but so far he had blamed it on his "experiment". Could the Master Emerald really lose energy? He had to check that. And he also needed to get to Albion, somehow try to talk to the high council there and make the attacks on Angel Island stop.

And he also wanted to see Lara again. Just wanted to make sure she was still alright, hold her in his arms and only forget about everything even if it was only for a few mere seconds.

Walking through the camp at the foot of the hills the young Guardian saw why they needed to send someone like Kali to gather food. Tyler had been eager not to let anyone leave unharmed and the few camp inhabitants had scarcely made it. He felt the gazes of the injured on him - not the hostile stares he had received in the city but gazes full of hope as if their one and only saviour had just arrived between them. Locke felt a lump in his throat. They all put their trust in him but he had absolutely no idea what to do or where to start.

"Locke! Y-you are back. You are really back!"

Lara rushed over to him and fell into his arms. Locke buried his muzzle in her hair, never wanted to let go of her anymore - at least not for this short moment. He had never seen her cry - someone who spit into Moritori's face wasn't really one of the whiny kind - but right now even she looked as if she was choking back tears.

"Where have you been the last few months? I thought you were dead. Killed by these ... things."

"I wished I knew", Locke mumbled. Since his last memory flood hours had passed and though he didn't miss the pain that came with them and it meant the creature inside of him hadn't become any stronger the lack of memory didn't make it any easier to find traces of the missing Guardians or find out why this all was happening.

"It doesn't matter as long as you are back and alive. If only all of us were that lucky."

He understood what she meant. Not all of the refugees had made it out of Echidnaopolis alive, some might have died on the way or in their new hideout and it was unsure if Voni would ever know her father.

"Where do you think you need to go next?" Lara asked. She already knew he hadn't come to stay for longer.

Locke stared into the darkness that surrounded the small camp. Haven had already given him two clues - the Chaos Chamber and the sandstorm close to Albion. Thanks to Kali he understood both of them a bit better. He had to travel to Albion and somehow make them stop the attacks and he had to find out what was wrong with the Master Emerald. But which of them was more important and which could wait?

"Albion", he decided. "The island is still floating and hopefully will keep doing so for the next few hours but the people of Albion could be preparing right now and attack while the island is still asleep."

"There is someone who still wanted to see you before you leave", he heard Kali's voice.

She was standing a few steps away, supporting Davis. The former leader of the EST looked as if he had been shot, several times, his wounds were barely covered by bloody bandages but he still stood as upright as possible saluting as if disregarding the etiquettes in front of a Guardian would lead to the end of the world.

"It is good to see one of the Brotherhood returning. Commander Davis at your service, ready to fight at your side like we did in the battle for Echidnaopolis."

He interrupted his salute because his legs gave in and he had to use both hands to cling to Kali.

"At least as soon as I can stand upright again", he added with a meek smile.

"Hopefully a fight will never happen", Locke said.

"I'm not so positive about that", Davis said. "Over time it only became worse and now it looks like a storm is coming."

Probably he was right. Missing Guardians, Tyler, Chaos creatures, Albion - if all of them were combined a storm would come over them and it would rage like it hadn't done any more for centuries.

"I will make sure that at least five winds will blow as one", Locke mumbled.

It had been a short goodbye. He had wanted to stay for longer, at least for hours because who knew when or if they would see each other again but none of his plans would become easier with time and the longer he waited the higher the risk of an attack on Albion's side became.

Travelling to the edge of the island and then gliding down would have been the option costing the least Chaos Energy but it would have taken too long to get there so Locke decided for the faster teleportation option taking the risk to be completely defenceless for a while after arrival.

The collision with the ground was much harder this time and Locke was sure he had blacked out for at least a few seconds. When he came back to his senses he could hear calls of surprise and people hectically running around. Weapons were drawn and probably also pointed at him but he was too weak to look up yet, could only see the boots of the Echidnas surrounding him.

"What is this ruckus all about?" a voice asked.

"This guy suddenly approached mid-air and fell down, sir. It could be an intruder from Echidnaopolis", one of the Echidnas in front of Locke answered.

"Since when do intruders appear in mid-air?"

"I-I'm a Guardian and teleported here from Angel Island", Locke rasped. If only his head would stop spinning and he could regain control over his muscles. "I ... need to speak with ... the High Council."

"So he is from Angel Island and a bearer of the Chaos Force. What shall we do with him, sir?"

"Get him to my office, what else?"

"But sir, he said that he is from..."

"He said he is a Guardian. Guardians are neutral. Besides, can't you remember anymore? It was this boy who fought among us during their last attack several days ago."

"And what about the Chaos Force? Couldn't he have turned...? "

"The creatures clearly claimed that they had been sent by Echidnaopolis. Since when does a Guardian let himself be sent around? Now let that poor boy take a breath and lead him to my office whenever he feels fit enough."

Locke still had barely seen more than boots and didn't know who had probably just saved his life but he started to like this grumpy commander. Finally someone who had witnessed an attack with Chaos Force but didn't immediately think the Guardians guilty of it. Hopefully the members of the High Council shared this guy's opinions.

Much to his surprise Locke wasn't led to any ordinary office as he expected. The building he followed one of the guards through was no other but the White Halls - the residence of Albion's High Council.

The Echidna waiting for him in the room he was led into looked at least 60 years of age. His dark brown fur stood in sharp contrast to his white guard uniform. When he spoke to offer him a seat Locke recognized his voice as the grumpy commander's.

"You are ... a member of the High Council?" the Guardian asked surprised.

"No, I just broke into this building to see what sitting in an office like this feels like. Of course I am. I'm councillor Newton."

"And you are also a member of the guard team."

For Locke it was hard to imagine someone from the High Council wandering through the streets at night guarding a town.

"You can be glad that I am or else you wouldn't be able to talk to the council at that time of the night", Newton said. "I think the others wouldn't even crawl out of their beds if I set their sheets on fire. Now tell me, what you wanted from us."

"Sir, though we Guardians as the protectors of both, Angel Island and Albion, are and remain neutral I still have to speak in the name of Echidnaopolis. We never have started any attacks on Albion. The Chaos creatures that have been mentioned attacked us too. I don't know who or what they are or what they are planning but we definitely didn't send them."

"You sound honest, boy, but when I gave the commander of your EST a call to discuss the same matter with him he confirmed what the creatures had said and officially declared war on us."

"Who was that commander?"

"As far as I remember his name was Tyler."

Locke felt his heart pound. Only one thing was spinning through his head: Why?

"Tyler is a traitor", he said. "He nearly killed the former commander of the EST, is out for everyone who doesn't share his beliefs and keeps the people under control by spreading fear."

Newton rubbed his chin.

"These are grave news, my boy. In this case the High Council has to get together immediately, no matter the time. It's worth a try - I'll burn their beds down."

That moment the communicator on his desk crackled.

"Sir, the sandstorm, I mean, it's no sandstorm", the voice of a young Guard was heard. "It's raging Chaos energy that's whirling up the sand. They are coming back."

Locke leapt to his feet.

"Sir, discuss whatever is necessary to stop the attacks on Angel Island. I'll take care of the creatures."

'Or I can at least lure them away and hold them up as long as possible while trying to survive', he added in his thoughts. Alone he would never stand a chance.

Taking a look back at the white city he could see the silhouette of Angel Island in the night sky hovering nearly over it motionless. If the Master Emerald was really becoming weaker and the island dropped sooner or later it might not hit Albion directly but the earthquake and flood following the impact would erase it as well. He shivered at the thought that the fail of one emerald would cause the extinction of nearly the whole Echidna race.

Facing the canyon he activated a Chaos shield around him, not only to be prepared for sudden attacks but also to protect himself from the whirling sand. In the darkness he could only move slowly, anxiously trying not to make a wrong step and fall down somewhere but at least he knew where he had to go. The felt presence of the Chaos Force led his way.

A sudden burst of energy lit the canyon. It broke Locke's shield and hit him to the ground. Before he was prepared for another shield or a counterattack another blast hit him, made him nearly slide off the edge of the platform he was on. Quickly he rolled away from it a few steps. Oh yes, he knew how to glide but only when he was prepared for it. However he didn't know how long it would take to activate glide mode when he was suddenly pushed off somewhere.

The sandstorm had stopped now and as far as he could see there were two glowing figures rapidly coming closer. He shot an attack at both of them but they were quick at avoiding it. The next blast hit Locke square at the chest and slammed him against a rock wall. He dropped to his knees, quickly activated another shield though he knew how useless it might be but the expected attack didn't come. Carefully he looked up. Both figures stood a few steps away. Now that they were finally standing still he could clearly see their shapes.

"Why do you still try to resist", one of them asked.

But Locke couldn't speak, couldn't even think anymore - within a blink his mind was like wiped empty. All he could do was staring at those familiar figures in shock and disbelief, listen to this well-known voice.


	4. Divided

"Why do you still try to resist?" Thunderhawk said. The bright glowing mass of Chaos Energy definitely had taken Thunderhawk's form and it was speaking with his voice. A blank emotionless voice - no hint of disappointment, sadness or anger, faked or not, not even a malicious smirk - just a mere statement.

"You know you can't escape it, do you?" Sojourner added with the same blank voice.

"No, this can't be you", Locke whispered. "This can't be."

"If you mean our old forms as Guardians then no, we aren't them anymore", Thunderhawk said. "We now have powers. We are where we belong. We are demi-gods."

"You have them inside of you as well. Maybe you tried to suppress or even kill them but they can't be killed - at least not with a dose that wouldn't kill you as well", Sojourner said. "Just allow them to be free and your pain will be over."

"No, I won't!" Locke shouted. "Whatever possesses you, I will not let it happen to me."

The two glowing figures looked at each other with a little forced looking smirk.

"You already let it happen. You just can't remember anymore."

"And with our help you will let it out again sooner or later."

Two blasts were fired the same time at the young Guardian. Locke shot a counterattack but only with the goal to block their attacks. They were still his friends and he couldn't attack them, even if it would kill him. Two more attacks he was able to dodge - he had fought practise battles against them so often and most of their moves hardly ever changed. The third blast hit him - as far as he remembered, even in practise battles he had always lost to them. It was a volley of Thunderhawk's Chaos boomerangs, sharp as steel blades that slid through his chest. The wounds closed within seconds, the pain remained. Just as he knew their strengths they knew his weaknesses. They would continue to cause him serious wounds until he either ran out of energy or was in enough pain to release the thing inside of him. His mind screamed at him to flee and escape his fate but then they probably would focus on Albion again. Another double attack - the Chaos spear drove through his chest, the daggers, real daggers, slid his sides open. Locke broke down, coughed up blood. He could feel it now, stronger than ever before - something was slowly trying to take over his body and mind, something that felt like Chaos energy but much stronger. It was making him sick, wanting to throw up. He tried to fight it down, didn't want to succumb to it. Another blast forcefully pushed him backwards towards the edge of the platform again. He wanted to get away but the pain made him awfully slow. The next blast succeeded in what the previous one had tried. Locke lost his grip on the platform and fell. The healing of heavy injuries, pain, his fight not to lose consciousness - he just couldn't switch to glide mode anymore. He closed his eyes. If he already was about to lose his fight against the powerful force inside of him then he rather wanted to be dead than becoming like Sojourner and Thunderhawk.

Another glowing figure raced through the canyon like a comet. It collided with Locke and they both hit the next platform. The impact hurt him even more but with the risk of sure and immediate death gone he was able to regain full consciousness and fight back the destructive force inside of him. The young Guardian tried to get up ready to defend himself against a third opponent now but the Echidna in front of him was facing Sojourner and Thunderhawk, not him. A light glow surrounded him as well but it was weaker and the glowing green mixed with his own colours.

"You know you can't break my defence", he growled. "You tried so often and always failed. Try it again and you'll fail again. Try to hurt Locke one more time and you will dearly pay."

Locke's jaw dropped open when he looked at the back of the Echidna and heard his voice.

"S-Sabre..."

Sabre's next words were directed towards Locke.

"You can't fight pure Chaos Force and I know I can't do it either - at least not for long. Go, try to find cover somewhere or better leave the canyon."

"No ... I can't leave you alone..." Locke stuttered.

"I said go!" Sabre yelled.

The younger Guardian quickly crawled back a few steps but couldn't take his eyes off the scene. Sojourner and Thunderhawk had jumped from rock to rock to get down to Locke's and Sabre's level. Now they were standing side by side on another platform only a few feet away, watching the other Guardians.

"So there is another one still resisting", Thunderhawk said. Another dry statement. They weren't the foes laughing over their victims' fates or causing destruction and death because they were actually hungry for power or driven by revenge - in fact their lack of emotions might have been the last bit of proof that the actual Guardians were still alive inside, possessed but still with enough consciousness not to share and show their possessors evil feelings. They were machines, used as voices for something that had no own voice anymore, used as shelters for something that couldn't exist without an own body anymore.

Now it slowly dawned on Locke and he was struck by horror when he remembered and realized what they all were carrying inside. They had destroyed Enerjak's last form but how could they have been sure that they also had destroyed every single bit of Chaos energy that once belonged to him? They had his energy inside of them and part of it remained there, mixed with their own forces and became stronger thanks to their powers.

Like in trance he saw the battle in front of him. Sabre's attacks had the mere purpose to keep them at bay as long as possible while Sojourner and Thunderhawk tried to cause him pain so he would give in and the forces inside of him had the chance to take control of him - but they didn't even succeed in breaking his defence.

Locke tried to get up despite the pain of his recently healed but still hurting wounds and the sickness that always came with returning memories. He suddenly was enclosed in a shielding ball of energy, only a second later Sabre grabbed him. The world around them became a rapidly moving blur.

This time their landing was a bit softer - they fell into desert sand.

"I brought you back to Angel Island", Sabre said and helped Locke back on his feet. "But I can't stay here."

"Why not?" Locke asked dismayed. He didn't want to lose his friend again only minutes after he had found him.

"I might have control over my body now but I still remember what happened the last time I was on the island."

"It's Enerjak, isn't it?"

Sabre nodded, a saddened look in his eyes.

"What happened the last time you had been on Angel Island? I woke up to a ruined city and people panicking when they saw a Guardian. Was it you who caused this?"

Sabre hesitated shortly but then he answered, "It was ... us."

That second a sharp and sudden pain shot through Locke's stomach.

_Devastated he stared at the ruins around him. A whole street was razed to the ground by his own hands. Enerjak didn't have full control over him - only over his body and a part of his mind, the rest of him could clearly see what he was doing. Sabre was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully he had come to his senses as well; hopefully he had taken his own advice and fled somewhere where he couldn't harm any more people. For so long they had been able to suppress the destructive force inside but now they had succumbed - for the first time their resistance had been broken. Locke shivered at the thought what he needed to do so it would also be the last time but for the safety of the Echidna kind he was ready to risk his own life. The major part of the demi-god was destroyed by an overdose of energy - the rest had to be destroyed the same way._

Gasping for air Locke opened his eyes. Sabre knelt beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

"It's hurting, isn't it?" he asked. "Sometimes I feel pain too when he tries to get stronger but I doubt it's as strong as yours. Your experiment threw him back massively and it seems as if he wants to make up for it by even more force."

So was this really their end? Taken down by a force that could hardly be eliminated and then watch how their own kind was erased by their own hands? Locke refused to believe it but he also didn't know how he could stop it. Two Guardians completely controlled, two others close to share their fate. How much hope was there still left?

"Where is Spectre?" Locke asked. If he was able to destroy a whole street then the dark Guardian would have blasted a whole city to smithereens but while both cities looked a bit damaged they were still standing and he hadn't heard anything from other parts of Mobius.

Sabre shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Maybe he was the last in Haven - I haven't been there anymore for months - but if you hadn't found him there he might have disappeared as mysteriously as Thunderhawk and Sojourner did for quite a while."

Locke stared into the darkness. Had Spectre decided to stay away from civilization as well or had he been the first to fall in battle in an attempt to stop the overpowered Sojourner and Thunderhawk. He surely wasn't the one to give up the fight even if he had clearly lost it from the beginning.

"We have to go to the Chaos Chamber", Locke said. "I still need to know why the island has stopped moving."

"We won't go anywhere today, at least not with your wounds", Sabre replied.

"They have already healed."

"But your exhaustion and the pain is still there, I can see it. You should rest for a little longer, even if it's just one or two hours, then we can still go there."

"So you don't plan to leave anymore?"

"Not right now but I will as soon as I can feel him getting stronger again."

When Locke woke up the sun was already burning down on him. Sabre hadn't woken him up and let him sleep for at least eight hours. Frantically he looked around then his head sunk back into the sand and he let out a distressed moan. Around him there was only the desert wasteland. His friend was gone once more.

Lying there in the sand staring at the sky wouldn't help him though. His wounds were healed, the pain was gone and there was no more need to rest.

He had chosen the entrance to the Chaos Chamber that he and Sabre had come down a long time ago when they had entered this place for the very first time. Sliding down the wet path he could see the dim green light shining from the chamber. Nothing seemed to have changed - at least not for now. However, when he entered the chamber he stopped dead.

A body was trapped inside the Master Emerald. At first the Echidna floated lifelessly but then dark eyelids flickered open to reveal eyes that actually were red but now rather looked brownish thanks to the green colour of his transparent prison. His voice was weak and rough as if he hadn't used it for a long time.

"Locke ... I thought you were dead..."


	5. Dark allies

"The same I could say about you", Locke brought out not knowing if he should laugh or cry. He was so glad to see Spectre again, alive and not controlled by Enerjak. But the dark Guardian looked terrible, weaker than ever before, probably only kept alive anymore by the Chaos Force around him.

"I'm sorry I disappeared all these months ago", he rasped. "I had no other choice. Enerjak was drawing way too much. I didn't know any other way to keep the Emerald's powers at bay without also destroying myself immediately. But I don't think we can make it much longer."

His knuckles weakly knocked at one at the cracks visible at the surface of the Master Emerald.

"One force draining powers from outside, another one trying to keep them inside. It's just too much." He paused shortly then he continued, slowly as if his words were causing him pain. "I only wished I could have seen Kali one more time or that I at least had told her before where I needed to go instead of leaving her alone with all her worries."

That was when Locke thought he should finally break the news.

"She has a little daughter now. Nearly as dark as you but she got her mother's eyes. Kali named her Voni. I have met them only a day ago. They are now living at a camp near the edge of the desert." He also had wanted to tell the rest of their stories, that they now were refugees forced to live like outcasts thanks to the hate they received for being a Guardian's family but he swallowed the rest of his words. Seeing in what condition Spectre was he only wanted to cheer him up with the happy news, not bring him down even more.

Spectre remained silent and kept his eyes shut; also continued doing so after Locke had finished talking. And then the younger Guardian noticed the tear slowly running over Spectre's cheek. Locke turned his face away and stared at the ground instead, the best of privacy he could offer him in the Chaos Chamber when he didn't want to leave the cavern completely. He looked up when he heard Spectre's voice again, now sounding a bit stronger than before.

"Thank you for the news. The desert is probably the best place right now knowing how much the cities are under attack."

Locke knew that Spectre didn't have more information about what was going on outside of the Chamber than he had, at least not about the things that happened since he had been locked inside the Emerald, but there was another question that preyed on his mind right now.

"You are surrounded by purest Chaos Energy, also carry a part of Enerjak inside of you like all of us but still he hasn't taken control over you. How can you resist him? Why hasn't he become much more powerful yet?"

"Maybe I can resist him because I always carried him inside of me. You remember how I nearly had sunken into the darkness? Back then I faced and defeated it before it could wield power over me. Another part of him might be inside of me but he would never be able to take control again. We should have found out about what had remained inside of us earlier. At such an early state all of you would have been able to resist if you only knew about it."

"And he can't even become stronger with all the energy around you?"

"Although he is purest Chaos Energy he can't use the pure unchannelled energy inside of the Master Emerald. He needs it in a channelled way - through the shell of the Emerald."

"Do you know any other way how to get him out of our bodies and destroy him for good?" Locke asked eagerly. He didn't know Spectre had so much knowledge about the demi-god and now it was the last straw to clutch at.

"Only Enerjak's current forms can be destroyed by means we could use but to get rid of the energy that he actually is pure Chaos Energy is needed."

'Just like the essence of the Master Emerald that I tried', Locke thought.

"However such a dose would also kill a Guardian", Spectre continued. "And the only way to get him out of our bodies at the current state would be by destroying the Master Emerald. With the main source of channelled energy gone he would lose power way too fast and will probably leave the now useless bodies to find a new source."

"So that means we are doomed no matter what we try?" Locke asked bleakly.

"We aren't doomed until you see fear in MY eyes", Spectre replied and tried a smile but that only turned into a grimace.

"Destroy the Emerald", he suddenly said. "Make sure the people of the island and Albion are safe and then destroy it."

Locke stared at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"Do I look like I am joking? Sooner or later it will crack anyways so my suggestion is to take the people to safety immediately and cause a planned destruction. If you are lucky the remaining free energy in this room will keep the island floating long enough to take care of Enerjak and then put together the Master Emerald again. The only one who will die that way is hopefully Enerjak. And me. I'm in here for months, doing nothing more but controlling the Chaos Force, without water, food or even sleep. The only thing that keeps me alive is the energy around me."

Locke slowly shook his head. "I can't... I don't want to..."

"Think about it, but how many other options do you know so far?"

Locke wandered around aimlessly. After leaving Spectre he needed to deliver the message to Kali that Spectre was still alive and see how Lara was but now he only wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Where should he go now? What should he do?

Maybe he should just go back to Haven and - do what? Asking the old Guardians if he should destroy the Master Emerald? Or maybe Haven's core had found another clue. It was worth a try.

When Locke entered Haven the ancient building was completely silent. No old Guardians whispered to him, might it have been words of comfort or worry, when he walked through the empty rooms. He nearly wanted to cry out in disappointment. But what had he actually expected? That all out of sudden Haven would have come up with a brand new idea how to solve his problems? If it had been that easy then he would have been told from the beginning.

He had just started browsing through the surveillance system - the mainly used one, not the one hidden in Haven's core - when he noticed that someone had repeatedly tried to contact Haven, the first call not even half a day ago. Locke dialled up the same number and after a while a Dark Legionnaire appeared on screen. The cyborg seemed very surprised to see Locke and same counted for the young Guardian when he recognized Lanzer. They had massively damaged him in the arena two years ago and completely destroyed his Chaos Core but obviously it was nothing that could have been repaired again - only the green glow from his chest that once originated form the Chaos Core was gone.

"I didn't know there was another Guardian beside my brother left in Haven", Lanzer said.

"Your...?" Locke started but swallowed the rest of his sentence. He knew exactly who the brother must have been since there was only one "Legionnaire" in Haven. "Why did you want to call Spectre?"

"Mainly because he asked for it."

Locke raised an eyebrow. Why would Spectre ask for contact with any Dark Legionnaire, brother or not? He still held a grudge on them, Moritori's other bastards never were family to him and the only ones he had ever seen as his true family - his mother and her children - were dead.

"Being the strongest of all of Moritori's other sons and daughters it was my natural right to take his place as Grandmaster and thus I was the first to call", Lanzer answered Locke's unasked question. "Spectre might still hate us but he is clever enough to see allies in us now that we both have the same enemy."

"But why? You have followed Enerjak before so why don't you join him again."

"Not all of us wanted to follow him because we exactly knew what would have happened once he reached his destructive goals and there was no need for us anymore but we had to bow to his orders or else we would have forfeited our lives even earlier. He never tried to recruit us a second time and we won't join him on our own."

Locke bit his lip. He wasn't sure at all how much he could trust Lanzer but on the other hand Spectre had done it enough to ask him for help.

"What kind of help did Spectre ask for and what do you want to tell us now?" he finally said, reluctantly shoving his worries aside.

"As far as Spectre told me he was the last one left in Haven and needed additional eyes on the whole situation. We should inform him if something really grave happened - not just the smaller attacks that should only spread fear but the first signs of a coming war. It happened now. Some people of Echidnaopolis are convinced enough to march against Albion, other allies who Enerjak has found all over the world - outcasts who have nothing to lose, people who hold their own grudges against the Echidna kind, have been misled or would do just anything for power or money - will join them as well. Enerjak is following a certain strategy - Albion has to be taken down first because it's weaker, then with the white city fallen but Angel Island weakened as well because it lost a lot of fighters in the battle he will turn the tables and let his own army march against the towns and the city on our island."

"And you are absolutely sure about this strategy? How would you know if you aren't with him this time? It also makes me wonder why he wouldn't want to recruit his old army once more. You are outcasts too - banned from Echidna society."

Lanzer smirked. "Suspicious as a Guardian, aren't we? I think we have failed him one time too often, that's why we are rather on his destruction than on his future ally list. And just another kind of Echidnas - yes, we see you as another kind because you aren't cyborgs - banning us from their society doesn't make us outcasts. Outcasts are lone wanderers or live in small groups. We are Legion for we are many."

"So you will join our side in an upcoming battle?" Locke asked.

The Grandmaster sighed. "I wished I could have said that this isn't our battle and not our business but Enerjak is our enemy too and he will come for us as well. Let's just say we will fight on the side of our enemy's enemies but we will not join anyone."

"Sounds fair enough."

"If you excuse me now, my Legion has to be prepared. Over and out."

As soon as the screen went back to his normal surveillance mode Locke sunk back into the chair and covered his face with his hands. He was shivering and his heart pounded as if it wanted to do a whole life of beats within the next few minutes.

A war. Albion had to fight Angel Island. He couldn't join any of their sides although the people of Echidnaopolis would probably see him as the enemy as well. And then Enerjak would come over all of them. No one would be able to kill a demi-god, not even the Guardians - especially not the Guardians since one of them was fighting his own inner demons, their strongest fighter was trapped inside the Emerald and the last remaining didn't want to fight his two possessed friends.

"Haven, help me", he whispered. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to die."

He could feel their presence all around him, could hear their whispers again, too silent to understand but he at least knew the Guardians of Haven were with him again. Locke slipped off the chair and followed them through the deserted corridors - not that he would have needed them to guide him there anymore, he already knew how to get to Haven's core.

Walking down the stairs he couldn't take his eyes off the black material and the wandering lights. What if this was the last time he ever saw them?

"Is the destruction of the Master Emerald really the only option to get Enerjak out of our bodies?" he asked as soon as he reached the bottom.

This time Haven's opinion and the whispered words were clear. No silent and hard to understand disembodied voices, no cryptic pictures.

_'No, the last option would be Tikal's prayer but that could possibly kill the Guardian performing it and in its current condition also destroy the Master Emerald.'_

_'But the rest of you will be free.'_

_'The Guardian inside of it can't do it anymore because he is already too weak. But we are still connected to the Emerald. We could do it.'_

_'However we aren't sure what will happen to the Guardian inside.'_

Locke stared into the blackness. Spectre had already told him about his fate and it probably didn't matter whether he died from suddenly unleashed energy or from the missing life support around him.

"And what will happen to the island?" he asked. "Or to Haven once its energy supply has stopped?"

_'The island might stay afloat as long as the energy stays inside the Chaos Chamber and doesn't escape anywhere. It will return to the Master Emerald once its parts are together again.'_

_'Haven however will die, at least until the energy is back.'_

Locke took a deep breath.

"Well, if that is the only way, then do it. Destroy the Emerald."

He leaned his forehead against the black pillar and listened to the whispers that now became more and more silent again. The metal didn't feel cold but also didn't have the same warmth as a permanently running computer. It was somehow ... like the warmth of a living being. Another living being that would die without the Emerald but unlike Spectre it could be revived afterwards. And without their powers, how likely was it that the Guardians after they were freed from Enerjak would survive the battle?

"Promise me that you will stay with me until it ends, my old friend", Locke silently said.

 _'I will',_ a voice answered. Only one single voice, not the many-voiced whispers he normally heard. Exactly the one his mind had been searching for. The corners of his mouth lightly twitched upwards but he couldn't hold that smile for longer than a second - not with the thought of what was still lying ahead.


	6. Before the storm

The setting sun bathed the white city in red light. 'Blood red', Locke thought when he wandered through the streets alongside of Newton, 'A forerunner of the things to come.'

The commander and councillor of Albion seemed to be calm and even upon the message of troops marching up against the city didn't lose his wits. He gave Locke and likely also his men the feeling they were with an old veteran of the battlefield who had come out alive of countless wars and knew exactly what needed to be done in a situation like this. But Locke also knew how long the Echidnas, especially those inhabiting Albion, had lived in peace. Not even Newton was old enough to ever have experienced real battles or civil wars. At least his attitude gave his soldiers confidence and hope and hopefully later on his fighting skills turned out to be as good as his acting skills.

"I will try to step in front of them one last time", Locke said, "and probably will also be the first to get attacked when they still believe more in Tyler than in me. No matter what they will do to me, don't rush into a battle against them to avenge me. They are blinded by fear and hopefully once Enerjak's other army arrives they will see who their true enemy is."

An amused grin spread on Newton's muzzle.

"Heh, I'm not a puggle anymore, my boy. I know what I'm doing." Silently so that only Locke could hear it he added, "At least I trained in simulated situations like this often enough." Loudly he continued, "Before the next morning has come we will fight together with our brothers and sisters of Angel Island again and defeat Enerjak's forces."

Once more Locke was alone when he wandered over the meadows and along the cliffs at the seashore towards the supposed landing place of Angel Island's troops. With only jets for transport but none for fighting they had to land at a place out of plain sight so Albion wouldn't immediately send their battle jets but also not too far away to reach it by foot.

Had he ever been so conscious about how the salty sea air smelled, how grass and sand felt under his feet and how his steps sounded when he walked on it or how many colours a normal everyday sunset could have? It was as if his senses wanted to take up as much as possible as long as they still could. His heart was beating as if it wanted to escape his chest and everything inside of him was screaming to turn and run but he marched on. Of course he could have run, just could have waited for the Emerald to be destroyed and hoped the war wasn't won by Enerjak. Maybe no one even would notice he hadn't been anywhere in the battle and he could return home safely without having to exculpate himself where he had been. But would he be able to live with that feeling of guilt that he abandoned everyone - all these people who probably felt like him but fought for their and everybody else's lives instead of running like cowards? No, as long as he still knew who and what he was fighting for he wanted to carry on.

The wind carried voices towards his direction - the first of Echidnaopolis' troops had arrived. He approached them - carefully but not in a stealthy manner. Weapons were drawn at him when the other Echidnas noticed him but though he slowed down a bit he didn't stop walking.

"People of Echidnaopolis", he addressed them when he stopped in their range of hearing. "Please, listen to me. You have to stop the attack on Albion."

"And why should we listen to one of your kind, _Guardian_? Why shouldn't we just destroy you like you have destroyed our city?"

Locke knew that voice - and the way he spit out the word "Guardian" as if it was something disgustingly and rotten. He addressed the owner of that voice directly.

"Commander Tyler, I know it's your good right to defend your home and you can get rid of me afterwards when you still feel like it but please, let me say what I have to say first."

He looked around. In the eyes of the Echidna soldiers he could still see fear but it looked as if they at least were willing to listen to him. Seemingly not all of their trust in the Guardians, their former saviours, had been completely shattered. What would Tyler's choice be? If he ordered them to shoot Locke maybe some of his soldiers would start to wonder why he wanted to get rid of a non-glowing, unarmed and calmly standing Guardian who only wanted to talk. But if he allowed him to talk and he really was one of Enerjak's followers - not just someone who had been blinded by promises but a truly loyal, power-hungry follower like Moritori had been - he ran the risk that his people started believing in what Locke said.

Tyler lightly smiled but kept his gun pointed at the Guardian.

"Then talk but remember that your fate remains inevitable, no matter how long you try to delay it."

Locke took a few deep breaths.

"When the people of Albion attacked you they also did it to defend their city - to pre-empt your next attack and damage your forces before you were prepared for the next encounter. However they couldn't do too much because I stopped them. I travelled to Albion then to find the reason behind their sudden hostility against Angel Island and found out that they had been attacked by a similar Chaos force as you - only that this time the Chaos creatures told them they were sent by Echidnaopolis while during their attacks on Angel Island they seemed to have spread the rumour they were the Guardians' doing. It was neither the fault of any of the cities nor the Guardians - it was Enerjak's doing. We thought we had destroyed him the last time but apparently we have only weakened him for a while. He regained strength and now he strikes back."

Locke saw that the fear on the people's faces slowly turned into a mix of fear and shock. He didn't know if he had their trust in him but they believed his words which was already more than he had expected at the moment. Tyler's expression however hadn't changed the slightest bit.

"Two Guardians are trapped by him and at his mercy", he continued, "Sabre is hunted by him with no ways to escape, Spectre is locked inside the Master Emerald trying to hold back its forces and preventing Enerjak from gaining even more strength - and the island to drop off the sky. I am the only Guardian left but I too can feel that he's out for me. We had been the only ones who had been dangerous to him in the past and thus we will be the first he wants to destroy. With us out of the way or at least weakened Albion and Angel Island are next."

Behind Tyler a silent buzz started but the commander did nothing to stop his men. Instead he ambled towards Locke, that sickening grin still on his face. The Guardian needed to brace up so he wouldn't flinch when Tyler stopped right in front of him, nose to nose, his gun pushed against Locke's chest. Locke's heartbeat probably caused the gun to vibrate.

"Well played, little Guardian", Tyler whispered. "But I doubt a nice little speech and a few Echidnas who now started considering if it's really worth attacking each other will stop Enerjak. Or me. You might have convinced a few but there are more on the way to whom you won't have a chance to talk to and who will continue to follow my orders. Enerjak is on his way as well, with two, maybe three Guardians and a bunch of mercenaries. None of them as useful as I had been in the past few months though. I have isolated you Guardians from society so in case Enerjak's take-over would fail the other Echidnas would either get rid of you or treat you like threats. I convinced those people to arm for war and thus will be weakening each other before Enerjak will finally come over them. Enerjak should have chosen my body to host him instead of you filth - he could have killed all of you from the inside and then taken over me completely, regaining his full power, instead of remaining split up, each of his bodies only having a part of his powers."

In the meantime the buzzing had stopped; the two Echidnas were the centre of attention though the others probably didn't understand what Tyler whispered. Locke's skin was tingling with Chaos Energy and he would have loved nothing better than to blast Tyler's insides out but he held himself back. Attacking the commander right in front of his soldiers' noses before they knew what had been going on would have been the worst thing he could do now that he probably slowly regained their trust.

"Do you want to know it, little Guardian?" Tyler continued. "Do you want to know why Davis has so many wounds that he still might not have fully recovered? He probably should just have fled instead of acting as a living shield. He might have saved the lives of a few other refugees but to what price? And Spectre's little whore - I wished I could have shot her through the womb before she got the chance to escape. Back then I might have killed two birds with one stone, or let's rather say shot two Echidnas with one bullet. But unfortunately it would have put my high position in danger. Shoot at the commander of the EST several times and no one bats an eye. Shoot at a baby, born or not, and I suddenly would have had the same reputation as you Guardians at that time. I hope in the meantime the desert has taken care of her though."

Locke's eyes widened and he made a quick step backwards.

"You ... you bloody bastard!" he shouted.

He felt the Chaos force boil up inside of him. He had to suppress it, at any cost, or else Enerjak would find another chance to take over him but he also wanted make this creature in front of him pay, wanted to see him suffer.

Tyler only took a few steps back, the grin still on his face. This time he spoke louder, loud enough for everyone to hear him again.

"Have you already admired my gun, little Guardian? A custom-built model that only shoots pure Chaos Energy. Useless in any other case because the dose isn't high enough to kill anyone but it will cause a dangerous overload in anyone who already channels the Chaos force and always has quite a lot of it in his body - such as a Guardian. It's a pity to have a part of Enerjak die but he will regain his strength through other ways. Besides that part couldn't have been very strong to begin with since you are still resisting. I hope you will have a nice trip to Aurora's realms."

The shot went square through Locke's chest. A massive heat wave spread through his body, originating from the wound, hot as if he was burning from the inside. He would have screamed in pain but not a single part of his body was reacting to him anymore. Blinded by the pain he couldn't see but only feel how he hit the ground, his muscles still twitching uncontrollably.

A gentle hand suddenly was placed between his shoulders and a soft voice spoke to him.

"I promised I will be there until it ends. Hold on, it will soon be over."

The same second the Master Emerald exploded. Spectre dropped to the floor, splinters rained down on him. Energy was shooting through the room that it couldn't escape, dancing over his skin but the soothing, healing Chaos force inside of him that had kept him alive for so long was gone. He didn't even try to move. Forcing his eyes to stay open already cost most of his powers. Why did he still keep them opened if everything was lost anyways? Never in his life before he had been so tired, so weak. Voices whispered around him but he wasn't sure if they were really there or only in his imagination. The feeling of hunger or thirst was gone, had made place for a feeling of void, emptiness inside of him. Darkness surrounded him. He only wanted to sleep.

Kali appeared in his mind, then his daughter. He had never seen her but he could imagine how she looked with her father's dark fur and her mother's eyes. If he only had said a proper last farewell. If he only had had the time to see his daughter grow up and be the one to start training her so she would become a Guardian too one day.

"But not trained in the ways of the old Guardians", he silently said. "It's enough that I had been through military drill since I was a child. No one shall take your childhood away."

The darkness faded and he could see the green light dancing over the ceiling of the chamber again. A part of it was still surrounding him, tingling on his skin like electricity.

"I know you will be a strong girl. You have your mother's toughness and my strength after all."

His voice gained strength with each word. Slowly he rolled around. It cost a lot of strength but he finally was able to prop up on his arms.

"But it won't be just anyone to train you. Thunderhawk and Sojourner will be too slack for a girl like you and while Sabre and Locke will be able to handle you they are the ones most likely to fall back into old training tradition. No, you need someone who knows how to handle such a strength but doesn't want you to go through the same drill hell as I, someone who already has experience in training Guardians though it was only for a few days."

He slowly got to his knees then forced himself up onto his feet again. He was standing very insecure but he at least was standing again.

"The one training you will be me."

Step by step he staggered towards one of the corridors leading away from the chamber. The Chaos force inside of him might have disappeared but he wasn't completely helpless. It might have been a relict reminding him of his Dark Legion past, one that he just could have thrown away unlike all his cybernetics. But he had kept it like a treasure since it was the weapon that had killed Moritori.

"I won't only teach you how to fight and defend yourself, you will also learn about our history. Well, not exactly our history but the history of our Guardians. In this case Locke is also a good teacher, even better than me. You will soon understand why I'm refusing to train you the old ways."

While stumbling up the slippery path he continued talking to his imaginary daughter. It was as if now that the Emerald was gone he drew energy from the words to her. He barely realised the forest around him or the smell of the fresh air that he could finally breathe again after months inside of his emerald prison. His thoughts were filled with Voni and Kali. There were still beings out there that could harm his little family and he needed to protect them.

And if they already had done harm to them they would burn.

Tyler dropped the now useless gun onto the lifeless Guardian's back.

"Everyone at my command, let's move", he called at his soldiers.

They followed him but only reluctantly, most eyes still on Locke. Their image of the Guardians once had been shattered, for months they had only known fear of them, then one of them suddenly appeared in front of them and caused their world to crumble once more only to be shot by their leader a few minutes later. What had the two of them been talking about that lead to such an escalation? And the things they were about to do - was it still only about defending their home island or were they really falling right into Enerjak's trap?

Locke couldn't move anymore, he couldn't feel but still he heard the words that were spoken around him, could see the troops walking away. And he saw the Echidna scientist kneeling in front of him, looking down on him with a sad smile. No one else but Locke cared about him because no one else but Locke was aware of his presence.

"It's over now", Edmund silently said.

Locke wasn't sure what exactly he meant. Was his life over? His pain? Enerjak's reign in his body?

"So am I dying?" Locke asked. He couldn't use his own voice but he could communicate with his mind.

"That's up to you and the Chaos force. Currently you are floating between life and death. For a little while you were completely overloaded and it nearly killed you but then the Master Emerald and with that your source of energy was destroyed. All that is left inside of you is the energy from the bullet and it depends if that will just vanish or heal you."

If he concentrated on it Locke could feel the faint hint of Chaos energy inside of him but that was only the bullet. No own energy and also no Enerjak. The few seconds of overload that surely would have killed Locke if it hadn't been for the old Guardians were enough to destroy the part of the demi-god. Had he been able to right now Locke would have laughed out loud.

"Thank you for responding to my last call at Haven's core, my old friend", he said to Edmund again. "And for staying with me all this time. I don't know if I could have done anything of it if I had been completely alone."

"I am glad that I could help but I wonder why you chose me. I might be an honorary member in Haven because the Guardian line started with me and my descendants carried the title 'of the house of Edmund' but I never got the chance to be a real Guardian."

"And that is exactly why I chose you. Because that makes you closer to me than any other of the residents of Haven except for maybe my namesake. According to the old rules no one of us is a real Guardian. We weren't trained in a Guardian way, neither by other Guardians nor by fire ants - in our case it was a former Legionnaire who started, the rest we learned on our own. Though being reborn versions of old Guardians we don't have Guardian family members and not a single drop of Guardian blood in our veins. Though we have started to protect the Echidnas we never took the oath, it never was our duty. But still we will continue doing so, not because we are forced into our roles but because just like you we will fight for what we love and what we believe in. Besides, define Guardian. All of us, including you, had something or someone worth guarding. A Guardian is not defined by blood line or strange rules; it's what we do that makes us what we are."

For a little while Edmund thoughtfully looked at him then he smiled lightly but not only because of Locke's words. The young Guardian hadn't noticed it but now he suddenly realised that over time he had slowly regained control over his body again. The last few words had come over his own lips and weren't sent by his mind anymore; he could feel how his wound healed and could move into a more comfortable position than the one he had fallen into. But with the consciousness the fear of the things to come returned. Also Edmund seemed to have sensed it.

"It's still time to revise your words. As you said, it's not your duty."

Vigorously Locke shook his head.

"I still know a few people worth fighting for and if I get shot again then I want it to be because I tried to protect someone. I'm afraid of dying but it's not worth to let several others die instead of me because I just ran and saved my life."

"And nothing else I expected to hear from you."

"Please, stay with me", Locke begged when he saw that Edmund was fading away. "I ... I don't think I can do this all alone and I don't know if I will find any other Guardian soon."

"Don't worry, I might be invisible again but as I promised I will stay with you until the end."

Upon standing up Locke noticed the energy gun. It still had a few more shots but it might be useless now. If Spectre was right Enerjak might have left all bodies and he probably had turned into his pure energy shape. He could be killed by another source of pure energy but if Locke tried to shoot him with that thing it would only go in at one side and leave at the other without the possibility for the bullet to get stuck and release its deadly content. Locke took the gun with him nevertheless.

Thunderhawk struggled to open his eyes. His vision was blurred and he could barely see more than moving shadows and colours but he fought to stay awake. The last he could remember was pain, incredible pain. On his way out of the Guardian's body Enerjak seemed to have tried to take along some organs but while he hadn't succeeded in that he instead had taken a huge part of Thunderhawk's energy, life energy.

His eyes focussed on the red figure lying not too far from him - if Thunderhawk had stretched out an arm he would have been able to touch him.

"Sojo", he whispered, feeling the ice cold grip of fear around his heart. The younger Echidna's chest barely moved, his breaths were close to non-existent.

Painfully slow the lavender furred Guardian crawled closer to his friend, broke down right beside him. Probably he had now used his last bit of energy but it didn't matter when they were both supposed to die anyways. At least they would die close to each other.

Only a few steps away the army of outcasts kept moving, not caring about the lifeless Guardians at all. Their leader had left their bodies but with their life energy he didn't need them anymore anyways and he now was awaiting them back in an own pure form on the battlefield.

Slowly Sabre climbed through between the rocks. His body was still aching but he stifled the pain when he thought about his Guardian friends and the fate that awaited the whole Echidna kind. He had felt Enerjak's claws inside of him when he was suddenly ripped out of his body but he could barely do any harm thanks to the fact that at this very moment he barely had any power over Sabre. At first the Guardian had barely realized what just had happened but then it had slowly dawned on him that the part of Enerjak inside of him was gone completely.

He pressed himself closer to the rocks when the small army marched pass a few metres away. Sabre knew where they were heading and this was probably not the best time for a completely unarmed Echidna to be detected. As soon as they were gone he wanted to continue his way and follow them to Albion - a good distance away of course - but then he spotted the two figures that had remained behind, lying between the rocks. And one of them was lavender, a fur colour so rare on males that Sabre knew immediately who it was. He rushed closer, knelt down beside them.

They were lying side by side. Thunderhawk had protectively put an arm over Sojourner's chest. At first glance they looked completely lifeless but after a closer check Sabre found out they were still breathing shallowly. Without one more second of hesitation Sabre put his hands on their foreheads, a gesture rather driven by instinct than by knowledge. He had only seen this once - when Spectre had been fighting for his life and Locke wanted to help him - but he doubted he could do anything wrong since it was nothing he could ever have learned or practiced. Maybe it wouldn't work if they were already too weak but if they still wanted to fight then he wanted to help them. All Guardians somehow shared a connection to each other - they would always find together again, even if they were worlds apart, they would always knew if something had happened to one of the others and, thinking of Locke and Haven, maybe their connection partially remained beyond death. The Chaos force had nothing to do with it or else any other Chaos bearer would have felt the same. No, these bonds were only shared by Guardians, might it be family bonds or, as in the case of the current Guardians, friendship.

Something flashed through Sabre's mind. Locke had mentioned that he clearly had seen Spectre in his fight against the darkness but this was nothing like it. A few blurred lights, and memories but mainly darkness. And then he could feel their heartbeats, beating inside of his own chest. The blur slowly formed into two figures floating in the darkness holding on to each other as if it was for bare life - and surely it was. Thunderhawk lifted up his head, called out Sabre's name, while only Sojourner's eyes flickered towards the approaching Guardian, his head remained weakly leaned against his friend's shoulder. The lavender male wanted to reach out and grab Sabre's hand but then he hesitated when Sojourner showed no reaction.

"I-I can't ... move..." his younger friend mumbled. Even inside of his mind he sounded weak. "Please ... let go and safe yourself."

"Well, if you can't then I will carry you with me", Thunderhawk fiercely said. "I'll get us both out of here."

He gave Sabre a last despaired gaze, silently pleading it would work then grabbed his hand.

Sabre was pushed back and fell to the ground. It felt as if someone had punched against his chest and for a few seconds he wasn't even able to breathe but then he finally managed to sit up again. He was very weak and exhausted but that was nothing a few minutes of rest couldn't take care of.

Thunderhawk had already woken up. His eyes frantically scanned Sojourner for any signs of life and he let out a relieved sigh when his friend's eyes flickered open as well.

"We ... we made it", he silently stuttered. "Aurora and Sabre be thanked, we are still alive."

Sojourner answered with a weak smile. His lips silently moved and though the words wouldn't come out the gratefulness was written his eyes.

A few more minutes were given them to rest. Way less than they actually would have needed but they forced themselves back to their feet. Three Guardians, weakened by Enerjak and drawn of their powers but they were ready to fight for their people again.

Tyler continued his march towards Albion. He had noticed that the majority of his troops only had followed reluctantly, repeatedly glancing at the dead Guardian and he huffed angrily. It had taken him months to draw those people onto his side but as soon as one of the hated Guardians returned they immediately believed their words again. Of course what the young Guardian had said was true but the people didn't know that - they only had seen how Guardians had caused destruction and had believed that Enerjak was gone for good. And still they trusted the Guardians, no matter what.

His communicator went off and when he answered the call he heard the voice of one of the Echidnas he had ordered to guard the Chaos Chamber.

"Sir, we have a huge problem here. The Guardian is on the loose."

"So what? It's been your task to find a way inside and get rid of him so if he decided to get out on his own, even better for you."

"Well, there's this little problem now. Close to the chamber he was still protected by some kind of force field and then he managed to escape into the woods. And he's got a gun. And he's one hell of a sniper. We haven't seen him ever since but we hear him, not only when he shoots. He is..." The caller hesitated for a second. "He's reciting parts of Guardian history."

Tyler closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"That Guardian has gone completely nuts. And you are completely incompetent if you can't take care of a maniac who even has forgotten that he possesses Chaos powers and uses weapons instead. I don't care what you do or how you do it but eliminate him."

When he turned off his communicator he could feel the gazes of his own troops in his back. Had he spoken loud enough for them to hear? But if so they showed hardly any reactions.

Albion's army awaited them outside of the city. None of the white uniformed Echidnas tried an attack; they hadn't even readied their weapons. What were they planning?

"So eager to die?" Tyler called over the last distance between them.

"We didn't come here to fight", Newton loudly replied. "Albion surrenders."

A surprised murmur among his soldiers showed that Albion obviously hadn't planned to surrender but the councillor silenced them with a quick gesture and awaited Tyler's answer.

"Well, too bad for you but good for us. At least we won't be disturbed while we overrun the city."

"I am sorry to remind you about our codex, commander", Newton said coolly. "The inhabitants of the defeated places might be kept as prisoners of war or are forced to join the superior nation but they shall not be attacked anymore. In your case I would suggest the latter. Enerjak's army will be here any second and no one knows if or when the Dark Legion will send their backup so it might be a good idea if you accept your inferiors' offer and let the guards of Albion help you to defend our homes."

Now the murmur started behind Tyler. It was the second time Enerjak had been mentioned and it wasn't by a Guardian this time. If he now ordered his soldiers to attack the white city anyways they would declare him as insane. Or they would see the traitor in him.

"Join us in death if you want to", he only said and looked at the direction he expected Enerjak's army to come from. "They will be here soon. I'm waiting for them."

Heavily breathing Spectre stumbled over the rocky paths. Most of his persecutors were dead; the others either had lost his trace or given up searching - for now. His sanity slowly returned but so did the pain and exhaustion. Additionally to his already existing weakness he was bleeding from several wounds which without the help of the Master Emerald probably wouldn't heal for months. Eventually his legs gave in. He had done everything he could for his family and now ... the time for sleep had come.

Floating in a state of half-consciousness he heard footsteps. They stopped short for a few seconds but then quickly came closer. Had his enemies found him at last? No, the hands who touched him, shook him, lifted him lightly up were careful and gentle. At least he would die in the arms of someone who wasn't an enemy. He could hear voices but they sounded as if they were coming from far, far away. Too far to even hear if they belonged to a male or female. The last he felt was that he was picked up from the ground then he blacked out completely.

His eyelids flickered open but he immediately closed them again. Even the twilight of the evening hurt in his eyes. Someone might have noticed this short sign of life because an arm was shoved under his shoulder blades, lifted him up lightly. Then something wet dripped on his lips. Still being dizzy it needed him a little while to remember what it was. How long had it been since he had last tasted water? The next he quickly needed to remember was how to properly swallow before he could choke on the liquid slowly filling his mouth. The water was warmed up by the sun but at least it didn't hurt as much as cool water might have done when it ran through his completely dry throat. With his senses slowly returning he felt the bandages on his body, the sand he was lying on, heard the voices around him. Finally he also thought it was safe to open his eyes without feeling blinded. Thank goodness she had lowered the bottle or else he would actually have choked on the water. Kali warmly smiled down on him, tears of happiness were still running down her cheeks. Spectre weakly lifted up an arm, wanted to wipe away her tears and she wrapped her fingers around his hand, held it against her cheek. His lips slightly moved but he couldn't find any words to say. Moments passed and they only looked at each other, the world around them was nearly forgotten.

"Do you want to see Voni?" Kali whispered. "She's with Lara while I was taking care of you."

Spectre could only nod.

When Lara knelt down beside him and carefully laid down the little puggle on his chest he felt very dizzy and for a second he feared to black out again but then he realized he was only overwhelmed by his feelings. When he gently placed his hands on Voni's back and she snuggled closer to the warmth of his chest a dry sob escaped his lips. But he didn't cry, he couldn't. He lying in Kali's arms holding his daughter in his own arms - how he wished this tender moment could last forever.

"You have carried me? All alone?" Spectre asked after Kali had told him how she had found him and brought him to the camp.

Around them it had become even darker but a campfire was providing light. Spectre was sitting leaned against Kali. Not that he would have needed support anymore; he only wanted to be close to her. The puggle was sleeping in her arms.

"Well, you aren't actually a heavy weight. You never have been but now you were only a bunch of bones, skin and a few cybernetics to carry. It's a miracle that you are still alive after months without water and food."

"That was the Master Emerald. I think it's rather a miracle how I survived the minutes after it was destroyed until you found me."

He remembered the whispering voices in the chamber. Could it have been the ancient Guardians Locke often seemed to hear inside of Haven? Maybe they had given him the strength to carry on.

"As much as I wish to, I can't stay here", he finally said with a deep sigh. "Enerjak might be out of our bodies but it's not over yet. He's still out there somewhere; I can feel it. I need to join the other Guardians - hopefully they are still alive - and continue my fight."

"I understand", Kali silently said, a saddened look in her eyes. "But how will you find him, how will you get there fast enough and how will you defeat him without any Chaos powers."

"Lanzer promised me to help us in case of danger. I don't fully trust him but since Enerjak is a threat to the Dark Legion as well I believe him that if that damn demi-god starts an attack somewhere the Legionnaires will join the other Echidnas. In that case I only have to go to the next Legion camp, ask around if they heard of Enerjak lately and if yes board one of their vehicles. And for the last part - I need your help, the whole camp's help if necessary. The Guardians can't fight him without the Chaos force so someone has to put together the Master Emerald again. I will tell you the location of the Chaos Chamber. There's energy buzzing around inside but don't worry, it won't harm you." At least not as long as the ancient Guardians keep it bay, he thought. "Just put the pieces together. The ... the forces inside the chamber will seal it for you and the free energy will return into the Emerald."

"I will do it and I will take everyone available to help me", Kali promised.

Soon after Spectre left the camp he heard fast footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Lara quickly approaching. She stopped in front of him breathing heavily.

"I'm coming with you and don't even try to stop me. Unlike most of the other camp inhabitants I am not wounded and if I hadn't been banned from Echidnaopolis I already would have been among those being sent to Albion a good while ago since I know how to handle weapons and have experience in fighting."

And you can't stand the thought to leave Locke alone when it comes to the greatest fights, Spectre thought. He rather would have wished she hadn't asked and stayed back - not that he doubted in her skills or anything, it was rather because of Locke that he wanted to know her protected - but he also wouldn't turn someone skilled and willing to fight down. He shortly nodded.

"Alright, but tell Locke that you boarded that Legion jet on your own and don't mention you came with me. If he finds out I let it happen that you put yourself in danger he would rip off my head."

The last few Legion jets were getting ready for take-off when the remaining soldiers noticed two figures approaching in the dark. Weapons were quickly drawn but they relaxed a bit when they recognized one of the newcomers. One of his kind was the last to worry about right now.

"Do you still have space for two more soldiers?" the dark furred Echidna asked.

One of the Legionnaires raised an eyebrow. "Yes but ... has hell frozen over or since when are Guardians flying together with Legionnaires."

"Since my brother sent me an invitation", Spectre replied and without taking further notice of the Legionnaires around them - some of them puzzled, some others lightly amused - he and Lara climbed up the ramp leading into the jet.


	7. Five winds blow as one

The last few Legion jets flew over a battlefield. Locke raised his head but he couldn't give the arriving allies more than a quick glance. Something landed on his back, threw him to the ground and dug claws into his sides. With a scream Locke struggled to turn around, shot a blast right into the enemy's chest and kicked the furry creature off him. He could barely see what just attacked him but telling from the smell it must have been someone from the wild wolf pack. And telling from the loud curses the blast might barely have left more than a nasty burn and that the owner of the voice was ready to shred Locke into pieces. But before the wolf could launch another attack a shot rang out and he fell, a hole between his eyes. Locke spun his head and his jaw dropped when he recognized the female who came closer.

"You once saved my life, now I saved yours. I think we are even now", Lara said and reached out a hand to help him back to his feet.

"You're here? I thought you stayed in the camp with the wounded." Locke still couldn't believe his eyes.

She quickly dragged him over to some rocks to take cover behind before she replied, "I couldn't leave you alone in this hell, knowing you're out of Chaos power and completely unarmed."

Locke let out a humourless laugh. "And I doubt that even if I had the best weapons with me I would be able to kill someone." His gaze darkened when he remembered Tyler's words. And were those mercenaries really better than him, slaughtering innocents only for money or power promised to them by a stranger? "But maybe I will make an exception for those who have earned it."

Lara nodded to show it was safe to leave their cover. "Come, Spectre probably landed a bit further south."

"Spectre? He is still alive and has joined the battle too?"

Locke felt a warm wave of hope wash over him. He wasn't the only Guardian left in this fight anymore and besides, if the one who had been the surest to die survived then the others were probably still out there as well.

The two young Echidnas were rushing from cover to cover, only shooting when it was absolutely necessary. At some point a volley of blasts was fired by hidden snipers belonging to their side, protecting them from attackers when they had to cross the wide open field to reach the place the snipers lay hidden.

"Lost your gun, boy, or why else are you running around with a toy?" the mocking voice of a Legionnaire greeted Locke when he and Lara slipped past them.

"I've found Locke!" Lara shouted over the heads of the dodging soldiers. "But where the heck have you been? I thought you wanted to cover our backs."

One of the snipers left his position and rushed over to them. Locke saw that Spectre still looked as awful as during their last encounter a while ago but at least he was standing upright again.

"Well, snipers normally need a good place to hide and over there we only would have had the shallow water covering the path leading to Albion and all around the deep water of the sea. Some Legionnaires might dream about dying in battle but they surely don't dream about diving during it." He turned towards Locke. "The other Guardians are somewhere in this battle too. I can sense them." His eyes fell on the blood drenched gaps at Locke's sides. "What the hell has happened to you?"

"Just the usual flesh wounds", Locke said with a crooked smile. Thanks to the adrenaline rush he had barely noticed them and though they were now hurting like hell and still bleeding a bit he chocked the pain down, didn't want it to stop him from finding the others and continuing his battle together with them.

"I hope you are fit enough to follow me to the battle field", Spectre said sounding a bit worried. "The snipers will give us covering fire as long as possible but once we enter the core of the battle chaos it will be hard to differ between friend and foe."

"I would rather be worried about you", Locke replied.

"At least a thin body like mine will be missed by every bullet", Spectre chuckled lightly.

"I will be in the rearguard covering you and we will follow you into battle as soon as we are signalled to", Lara silently said. She hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. "Be careful, I don't want to lose you again."

"Hey, would you mind to stop snogging? There's a damn war around us", a Legionnaire complained. Spectre's following death glare silenced him.

Locke wanted to say something, wanted to give her the promise that he would return but his throat felt constricted and he could only silently nod.

As if by an unheard command both Guardians left their hideout and raced through the darkness. A rain of blasts soon surrounded them, sometimes they had to jump over fallen bodies, not knowing if they were allies or enemies but they never stopped and kept running. Spectre shot down every foe in his way, Locke used the gun he had gotten from the Legion's arsenal as less as possible. No matter what he had said about those mercenaries deserving to die, he couldn't stand the sight of them falling before his eyes. Those weren't Chaos blasts that he was shooting around there. His Chaos blasts would take out enemies but not necessarily kill them. A gun however...

When they were in the shallow waters close to Albion and in the middle of the battles he heard several loud cries behind him. The signal for the rearguard was given. He allowed himself a glance over his shoulder. Legionnaires and Echidnas who possibly belonged to the many nomad tribes stormed down the hills, way more than he had seen in the hideout before. The first few already fell before they reached the bottom. Locke looked forward again and prayed to Aurora Lara would be alright.

Three soldiers, certainly not Echidnas, blocked their path pointed their guns towards them. Two of them were mowed down by Spectre, the third was able to graze him with a shot but then was knocked out - by a boomerang.

"Thunder!" Locke cried out. He hadn't seen his Guardian friend yet but a shot like this could only have come from him.

"Damn, way to blow your camouflage", Sojourner's voice was heard.

"Camouflage?" Sabre called out. "We're just covered in dust whirled up by the battle but else we couldn't look more like Echidnas. No, not just like Echidnas, like the damn Echidna Guardians Enerjak wants to get rid of so desperately."

"Can't you shout a bit louder?" Spectre grumbled. "Maybe some people in Knothole haven't heard you yet."

"Hey, look who's still alive and nagging", Sojourner called out.

"Yes, glad to see you too. And now down!"

He dragged the younger Guardian with him, the others dropped into the shallow water as well. Another volley blasted over their heads but it had come from the Albion guards and hit a row of enemies.

"Looks like we've made it into the heart of the battle", Locke said. "A lot of dead bodies and..." He pressed himself closer to the others trying to avoid a trail of blood drifting by, mixing with and disappearing in the salt water a bit further away.

"Any more plans but lying here, playing dead and getting drenched in leftovers?" Thunderhawk asked.

"Enerjak is somewhere in the middle of this fight and actually he should be easy to spot being a green glowing figure in the dark", Sabre said. "But then again, if he moves fast enough between all those glowing blasts..."

A wave of energy shot over them and knocked out close ally units.

"Looks like he doesn't want to hide anymore", Thunderhawk said. "Stay down, this is our chance to get closer unnoticed."

"Wouldn't it be better if we split up?" Sabre asked unsure. "I mean, a whole of bunch of bodies looking very close to Guardians crawling forward... isn't that drawing a bit too much attention?"

"Indeed, indeed. Too bad for you that the brain of your group spoke too late. And that some of the enemies had the same idea to play dead", a well-known voice said and a few previously dead looking floating bodies rose from the water.

"Tyler", Locke hissed when he saw the Echidna who had previously spoken and was now standing between the mercenaries. "I wished you had drowned in a blood puddle."

"And you are harder to kill than a damn cockroach", the traitor replied with a cold glare. "But I doubt you will be able to survive several loads emptied into your bodies." He made a quick gesture with his weapon. "Get up. I will at least give you an honourable death. When history tells about the lost battle of the Echidnas it shall tell that the last Guardians died while standing and fighting and not while kneeling like wimps begging for their lives."

Slowly the Guardians stood up but they didn't even feel the need to lift up any weapon - not when the enemies had theirs already readied.

"Do you hear that too?" Locke asked.

A sudden deep humming filled the air, sounding like a charging Tesla coil. Their furs were bristled like during an electric storm. And then it was here, unseen but with full force, nearly wiping the Guardians off their feet.

"Shoot now!" Tyler who interpreted the signs correctly shouted.

The mercenaries opened fire but it was already too late - the loads were absorbed by Sabre's shield and a second later a mighty shockwave erupted from its middle, wiping out the surrounding foes.

A loud laugh escaped Spectre's throat. "The Guardians are back in business!"

"The bastard is escaping!" Locke shouted but Sabre held him back.

"Let him run. He will die soon enough. Enerjak is first priority now."

Only reluctantly the youngest Guardian turned around and followed the others towards the green glow that had gotten stronger the past minutes and was sending off energy waves uncontrollably.

A few meters away the Guardians stopped, shielded off by Sabre's barriers. Behind them the battle was raging, before them the last remaining pieces of Enerjak.

"This thing doesn't even have a certain form", Thunderhawk said. "It's just a bunch of swirling energy."

"But now that the Emerald is restored it can gain strength again", Spectre said.

Locke looked at his energy gun - toy gun as it had been called before. Well, it still was about as useful as a toy.

"There is a way to destroy him for good - a complete energy overload - and it's here in my hands. But ... the bullet will just move through as long as he's in this state. Enerjak needs a new body. Something where a bullet like that can get stuck in before it unloads its real power. Someone has to absorb his energy just like we did last time but this time all of it has to stay inside of that body until..."

The five looked at each other and they all knew the same thing - each of them was ready to give his life but no one would want to shoot a friend.

"It also has to happen fast and someone needs to help and keep Enerjak inside that body because I doubt he will want to stay there once he realized..."

"Why won't you just die?!"

Tyler stumbled through the shallow water, bleeding from several wounds. His attempt to escape apparently had ended in front of a not so friendly line of Echidnas.

"No matter what you try, you won't be able to defeat Enerjak."

Thunderhawk and Sojourner exchanged a gaze.

"Fast you said? I think that's a job for us", Sojourner silently said and Thunderhawk added, "Sabre, we need you to shield us. Spectre, help us to keep Enerjak at bay once he's inside. Locke, I hope you can shoot as fast as we can fly."

Without further explanation they started running towards Enerjak a few steps, jumped and continued the rest of their way in breakneck flight speed. Thank goodness Sabre had the presence of mind to activate his shields as soon as they had made the first steps because the same second Enerjak's attacks became fiercer - not strong enough yet to completely break the shields but even inside of them they could feel the shockwaves. Within second the two were at Enerjak's side, ripped the floating energy orb into two pieces but they didn't absorb them into their own bodies. Instead they threw them towards Tyler like two powerful blasts.

"Spectre!"

Tyler was ripped off the ground and for two or three seconds he remained hanging there, his bright glowing body twitching in pain.

"Locke!"

The youngest Guardian aimed and shot. The bullet broke through Sabre's barrier and shattered it but for that second no one cared to repair it. The glow intensified until it was a blinding bright ball of light.

Sabre loudly cursed.

"Everyone, shields up!"

Five barriers were activated but this time not to shield their respective owners. They built five walls around Enerjak. The following detonation destroyed all five of them but then it was already weakened enough and the Guardians felt no more of it but a mild breeze.

The rest of it Locke perceived as if he was in trance or half asleep. A last few mercenaries were still fighting but soon struck down by the Echidna armies or the Guardians, others fled as soon as they realized that their leader was gone. Afterwards the victory was celebrated, fallen friends were mourned for. But it wasn't until Lara came running towards him and fell into his arms that Locke finally awoke from his trance and fully realized what had happened. Enerjak was dead, gone for good. They had won.


	8. Epilogue: In the years that would follow

The jet landed safely in Haven's hangar. Sojourner didn't even have enough patience until the engines were stopped completely before he ran towards it and eagerly waited for the passengers to climb out of it. Thunderhawk at least took enough time to put off his headset before he followed his friend.

"That took you two long enough to arrive. We already thought you wouldn't come anymore at all and we would be stuck in here for another month", he jokingly complained as soon as Sabre and Locke appeared on the ramp.

"Yeah, I also think it's good to be back", Locke said. "Although I think only a month in Haven is a bit short. I never got the chance to fully explore it until our shift was over again."

"Short?" Sojourner sounded shocked. "Seriously, if it wasn't for Thunderhawk by my side I would already have thought about quitting the whole Guardian job. With him it's at least funny."

Locke raised an eyebrow. "I know your description of funny. I hope it's nothing too destructive."

"Well, I doubt that a Quad race around Haven's core can be called destructive", Thunderhawk shrugged. "At least nothing too expensive was broken."

"Wait, you did what? Tell me that was just a joke!"

"Well, who knows", the lavender Echidna said with a secretive smile and walked a little faster, Locke right on his heels.

"That wasn't an answer! Tell me what you have done to my Haven while we were away!"

"And? Has anything of importance happened on the island or in Albion while we were locked up in here?" Sojourner asked.

"If you would also have an eye on the surveillance systems once in a while you would know about that", Sabre answered. "You know, those big screens aren't there for video games only. But no, nothing happened. No wait, if I think about it... Commander Davis and councillor Newton fell out of yet another bar dead drunk but that's not really something new. That happens on every Ascension Day."

"Actually on every single holiday imaginable, even the ones Echidnas don't even celebrate."

"And during each birthday of every single member of the EST and the white guard."

"Okay, okay, we didn't destroy anything and now stop following me", Thunderhawk's voice was heard from another corridor. Locke was about to return when the voice added, "But I don't deny we had a Quad race down there."

"Have you heard from Spectre?" Thunderhawk asked after they had gathered up in the surveillance room. "Lately he can be hardly seen around Haven."

Sabre chuckled. "What else did you expect now that he has a two year old in defiant phase and with the Chaos outbursts of a Guardian to take care of?"

"Especially when she has the toughness of her mother and the temper and strength of her father", Locke added. "With a child like that you would be able to take over the world. Thank goodness Spectre is on our side. Just imagine him as an evil overlord."

"Actually Spectre had wanted to wait until she was at least at schooling age before starting with her Guardian training but now an early start became necessary. Maybe she won't be able to control her temper but then she at least should know how to handle her outbursts."

Thunderhawk leaned back and crossed his arms behind his back.

"Oh dear, thank goodness that no one else of our crew has decided to reproduce yet. One powerful baby is more than enough."

A little while later when Sojourner and Thunderhawk had left to throw their bags into the jet and the other two were alone again Sabre turned to Locke, a little grin on his face.

"Do you want to tell them about that sweet little secret Lara is carrying?"

Locke returned the smile.

"Maybe. I still needed a chance to return that bit of a shock."


End file.
